Skidding carriage



April 29, 1930. J. H. DlcKlNsoN' SKIDDIHG CARRIAGE Fil'ed lay 6, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVIENTOA Bjw/vf/W TroRNEYs. A

April 29, 1930. J. H. DlcKlNsoN SKIDDING CARRIAGE Filed May 6, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVIENTORK l elw/260W TTORNEYS.

Patented Apr. 2,9, 1930 UNITED ASTATES' PATENT @FUSE JOSEPH II. lnIeKINsoN, or WINTER PARK, FLORIDA, AssIGNoR To LInGnRWoon IILANUIPAGIURING` COMPANY, or NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION or NEW YQRK ` SKIDDING Application led May 6,

My invention more particularly relates to a skidding carriage which is so arranged as to permit the load carried thereby to fall on the breaking of a cable, and particularly the outhaul cable.

While not limited thereto,`my invention is particularly applicable toa down-hill skidding system, and one embodiment thereof 'is particularly applicable where the load :is locked in raised position. In a system of this character, where the speed of movement of the carriage and its load towards the headtowery is controlled Aby the outhaul cable which is attached thereto, in case the outhaul cable should break, the carriage and its load would continue their travel to the head-tower at an increased rate of speed and might wreck the latter. In accordance with my invention, the load is lowered on breakage ofthe outhaul cable attachedto the carriage. My invention will best be understood by Lreference to the accompanying drawings in which I have illustrated certain embodiments thereof, and in which Fig.y 1 is a diagrammatic'view of a cableway embodying my invention gFig; 2 is a side view on anL enlarged scale of a carriage and associated parts ernbodying my invention, the carriagev comprising a device for holding aload in raised position, the full line position. ofv said device indicating the releasing position, and the dotted line position thereof indicating the position in which the load is held in raised position; Fig. 3 is a view generally simil-ar to Figf2,l

V but illustrating the load locked in raised position, and certain parts of the block which carries the loadfbeing shown in sections; Fig; 4 is an end view of the device shown in Fig. 3, and Fig. 5. is a side view generally similar attached to the lower sectionof the carriage and over which the hoisting and skidding line passes. f a

Like reference characters kindicate like parts throughout the'dr'awings.

Referring to the drawings,y 10 is a main load-supporting cabler suspended between a main tower or support 11, and-a tail tower or support 12,. the carriage, which I have inditoFig. 1, but illustration an ordinary sheave cated in generalV :at A, being provided vWith y CARRIAGE 1927. Serial No. 189,204.

wheels A" supporting. the carriage and adapted to traverse the main cable.

I have'indicated generally atB, a winding engine comprising -winding drums 13, 14 and 15 on which are wound the ends of a hoisting and skidding cable 16, an outhaul cable 17,y

manner more vfully hereinafter described, is

attached, as at 26, to the hoisting and `skidding line 16.

vIn the embodiment of my invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, meansare provided for locking the load 'in a raised position.

When the load is so locked, it is important, in thel -case of down-hill skidding, that the travel of the carriage with its load should not be continued on the breaking of the outhaul cable, as this might result in the carriage withv its load wrecking the head-tower.

In the embodiment of my invention illusi trated, a tilting block 27 is suspended'from the carriage A, preferably by means of a link or shackle 28. In the form illustrated, the tiltingblock 27 comprises spaced plates 29 between which is pivoted, asat 30, a lever 31 also comprising two spaced plates between theupper ends of which is mounted a sheave 32 on a shaft 321 mounted in the side plates of the lever. The slack pulling line 18 passes over one of vtwo side by 'side sheaves 33 (Fig. v

4) mounted on the carriage A, thence over the sheave 32, and then over a sheave 34 on the carriage A, and back over the other sheave 33 from which it leads to and is attached to the skidding line. The sheave 2O is also mounted between` and at the central portion of the two spaced arms of the lever 31 preferably on the bolt or shaft 30, and the skidding line 16 passes over this sheave vand thence over a sheave 36 located between the lower ends of the two spaced arms formingthe lever 31,

on a shaft 361 mounted in the side plates of the block 27. rlhe lower ends of the two plates forming,` the lever 31 are, in the embodiment illustrated, formed as a hook 37 which engagesv a butt-on 33, secured to the shielding line 16 near the free end thereof; The free end of the shielding lino is provided with any device for attachment to a load, here illustratedas tongs 39, capable of being adapted to be attached to a log 10.

IVhen the bloclr 27 occupies the tilted position illustrated in Fig. 3, then when the load is raised, the button 38 will ride over the lower hooked end of the lever 31, pushing the hook 37 to the left as viewed iii Fig. 3, and the button then engages the hook 37, and the load will then be locked in its raised position.

1'referably, the side plates 29 of the block 27 are provided with a transverse slot 41, through which the shaft on which the sheave 32 is mounted, passes. Thelower end of the lever 31 is similarly provided with a slot l2 through which the shaft 361, on which the sheave 36 is mounted, passes A springv 43 is preferably interposed between a spacing,l member 44 von the block 27,.and the lever 31 as illustratedin Figs. 2 and 3, to holdv hook 37 in position to receive and Vloclr the Y load.

In accordance withmy invention, means are provided for permitting the load to drop inthe'event that a cable, preferably the outhaul cable, is broken. In down-hill skidding,

' held together by the outer end of the outhaul when the load is locked'in raised position,

` the travel of the carriage with its loadv towards the 'head-tower is controlled by the outhaul cable, and in the event that this cable brealrs, then there would be nothing to prevent the rcontinued movement of the carriage to the head-tower, and consequently wrecking;r the same. To overcome this difficulty, I have provideda carriage A, .divided into an upper section A and a lower section A, laced together by a cable, the lowersection being supported from the upper section by said cable.

In the embodiment of my inventionV illustrated, 4the two sections of the carriage are cable 17 which passes-over a slieave 181, preferably in the lower section .of thecarriage9 and is then laced or wound over a plurality of sheaves 15 in the upper section of the carriage A, and sheaves 46 in the lower section f ofthe carriage, the end of the outhaul cable preferably being` attached to the lower section of the carriage as at 17. In case the outhaul cable breals,then the lower section of the carriage drops away from the upper section and permits the load to drop to the ground without injury to the head-tower or other parte of the system. It is to be understood that iii-practiceV the but-ton or attaching' member 26 by which the slack pulling cable is connected to the slridding cable is bored for a loose fit on the shielding cable, and an enlargement is provided on the skidding cable between the button 26 and the carriage. The o if the skiddingz cable should not slide freely through the button 26, the slack pulling cable would instantly pay oft1 from the slack pulling drum, which is a slip friction drum, and even if it did not, the slack pulling cable is, in practice, a small one and would ordinarily be broken by the weight placed thereon. In any case, the log would soon hit the ground as the carriage rnnsforward towards the head tower under the' conditions assumed.

rIhe operationv of the device illustrated in 1 to l will readily be understoodfroni the foregoing description andis as follows:

Assuming that the carriage is over the load to be taken. In case the tongs are locked in and then by placing the slack pullingr line under tension, the upper end of the block 27, as viewed in Figs. 2 and 3, is'moved to the right about its pivotal attachment to the shackle 28, and the lower end thereof is moved to the left to the dotted line position indicated in Fig. 2. and the button is released fromV the hook 37, thereby permitting'the tongs to drop. Then, when the load is attached, byl winding up the shielding line and preventing' movement of the carri/age bytheouthaul line.V the load is raised and locked in a raised position as indicated in Fig. 2 in the manner 'heretofore described. Then the lo ad may be brought to the desired position by gravity in the case of down-hill Islridding, merely by controlling the sneed of movement of the Acarriage and its load by the outhaul cable, Where gravity is insufficient to cause the carriage and its load to travel to the position where it is to bedeposited, as in the case of up-hillskidding, then the load is brought in by the skidding cable in the usual manner. The load-maybe released in the same manner as are the tongs in the position above assumed, the skiddine'v line first being placed under suflicient tension to raise the button 38'from the hooks 37 then b v placing' the slack pulling line Aunder tens. release tratedin Figs. 1 to 4, there is no necessityfor llO having the outhaul drum'and the slridding'V drum interloclred, atleast in tliecase of down-- hill slridding'.

of my invention in which no provision is made for locking` the load in raised position vand which is particularly applicable where theV slridding and outhaul drums are interlocked. In the embodiment of my invention here illus- Vtrated, thecarriage A isdivided intoup-` In Fig. 5I have illustrated an embodiment per and lower sections A and A, respectively, as in Figs. 1 to 4. Instead, however, of locking the load in elevated position, the skidding line 16 merely passes over the sheave 35a in a block 27a 'attached to the carriage A by a shackle 28a. The slack pulling line 18 passes over a sheave 33a and is attached to the skidding line 16 at 26.

'Ilhe two sections, A and A, of the carriage are laced together bythe outhaul cable 17 in the same manner as in Figs. 1 to 4, and the description thereof need not, therefore, be repeated. Y

With the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 5, the lacing together of the two parts of the carriage is useful in compensating for the rise and fall of the load. In skidding logs with an overhead interlocking cableway system, inwhich the 'inhaul and outhaul or receding drums are locked together and rotated in unison when skidding the logs, the difficulty is present that the e'ective diameters of the drums carrying the inhaul or skidding cable and that carrying the outhaul or receding cable varies as the carriage is moved along the main cable. This difficulty is due to the piling up of the cable on the drum or the reverse as the cable is wound in or paid out, and this difficulty increases as the length of span increases. The result of this varying of the effective diameters of the inhaul and outhaul drums when the inhaul and outhaul drums are locked together,

is that the load gradually rises and jams against the carriage, and to overcome this difficulty, it has been Ycommon either to slip the friction on the drum or drums, which is,

of course, objectionable, and it has also been proposed to vary the speed ratio between the twovdrums.

In accordance with my invention illustrated in Fig. 5, for ordinary spans it is unnecessary to resort to any expedient for changing the vertical position of thefload, since the rise of the load is only a fraction of what it is in the ordinary system, as the lacing together of the upper and lower sections of the carriage by the `outhaul cable constitutes in eii'ect a fall and tackle which reduces the rise, or fall,o:t the load vto a fraction of what it otherwise'would be, and to y such an extent that, when the two sections of the carriage are separated when starting to bring in the load, the rise of the lower section of the carriage is sufficient to compensate for the relative change of the effective diameters of the inhaul and outhaul drums.

. I claim: Y

1. In a hoisting and conveying device comprising a main supporting cable, a traveling carriage adapted to traverse said cable and divided into an upper and a lower section, an outhaul cable lacing together said sections and attached at one end tothe lower section of said carriage.

2. Ina hoisting and conveying device comprising a main supporting cable, a traveling.

haul drum, an outhaul cable wound uponv said outhaul drum for pullingy said carriage away from said engine, said outhaul cable passing over said sheaves and being attached to said carriage, thereby lacing said sections together, said outhaul cable being adapted to move said carriage in one direction, and a skidding cable wound upon said skidding drum for moving said carriage in the opposite direction.

3. In a hoisting and conveying device comprising a main supporting cable, an outhaul cable, a traveling carriage adapted to traverse said main supporting cable and divided into an upper and a lower section laced together by said outhaul cable, means for producing tension in said outhaul cable, the lower section of said carriage being provided with a sheave, a hoisting and skidding cable passing over said sheave, means for attaching a load to the end of said cable, and means for lock'- ing said load to said carriage in raised position.

JOSEPH I-I. DICKINSON 

